6533b82dfe1ef96bd129145f
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Methanotrophy induces nitrogen fixation during peatland development
Eeva-stiina TuittilaMaija AarvaSanna M. LeppänenTuula LarmolaMarja TiirolaPäivi MeriläHannu Fritzesubject
PeateducationCarbon CycleCarbon cycleMireSphagnopsidaNitrogen cyclePrimary successionFinlandSoil Microbiology1172 Environmental sciencesAlphaproteobacteriaAnalysis of VarianceCarbon Isotopes4112 ForestryMultidisciplinaryNitrogen IsotopesbiologyEcologySphagnopsidata1183Carbon respirationNitrogen CycleBiological Sciences15. Life on landbiology.organism_classification13. Climate action1181 Ecology evolutionary biologyNitrogen fixationEnvironmental scienceta1181Methanedescription
Significance In peatlands, the external sources of nitrogen are mainly atmospheric, but the atmospheric nitrogen deposition alone cannot explain the long-term annual nitrogen accumulation rates to these ecosystems. Because of methodological problems, methane-induced fixation of atmospheric dinitrogen gas has been previously overlooked as an additional nitrogen input mechanism. We found that the activity of methane-oxidizing bacteria provides not only carbon but also nitrogen to peat mosses and, thus, contributes to carbon and nitrogen accumulation in peatlands, which store approximately one-third of the global soil carbon pool. Our results imply that nitrogen fixation in wetlands may be strongly underestimated when methods inhibiting methane oxidizers are used.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-12-30 | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |